


(you make me) dizzy in my head

by fallenhurricane



Series: Malec Playlist [5]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, Mundane Alec Lightwood, Mundane Magnus Bane, this is like nothing but fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:48:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24436936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenhurricane/pseuds/fallenhurricane
Summary: “So I have a problem,” Magnus said, floating into the bathroom and aiming the camera at his reflection in the mirror. He spoke slowly, words drawn out. “I don’t know how to ask him out. I want to ask him out. He’s so fucking cute, guys, and he’s so kind and funny and -- well, you’ve seen my other videos. I just want him to love me!”Or: Magnus has a TikTok account.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Malec Playlist [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757935
Comments: 12
Kudos: 207





	(you make me) dizzy in my head

**Author's Note:**

> I truly cannot explain this.

You make me dance like a fool  
Forget how to breathe  
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee  
Just the thought of you can drive me wild  
Oh, you make me smile

-Uncle Kracker, "Smile"

Magnus knows he should’ve put his TikTok account on private. 

It’s too late now, he supposes, sitting in his car in the school parking lot, watching students file into the building. The damage is done. Thousands of people have seen the video he made in his bathroom at nearly one in the morning, too hyped up to sleep, too impatient for Catarina to text him back, and too impulsive for his own good. He had to voice his thoughts _somewhere_. 

It wasn’t even the first time he’d made a video like this -- this one is just the most embarrassing. He remembers recording it and being so, absolutely sure of his own words. 

“So I have a problem,” Magnus said, floating into the bathroom and aiming the camera at his reflection in the mirror. He spoke slowly, words drawn out. “I don’t know how to ask him out. I want to ask him out. He’s so fucking cute, guys, and he’s so kind and funny and -- well, you’ve seen my other videos. I just want him to love me!” 

The worst part isn’t even that thousands of people have seen it, after it having appeared on a bunch of their front pages, apparently. It’s that, at exactly 6:45 in the morning, he woke up to a text from one Isabelle Lightwood that just said, “Fucking cute, huh?” 

Fuck. 

She’d seen it. She’d seen _them_. And she’d pieced it together. 

Now he has to go to school knowing that his crush’s sister absolutely knows about his crush. And Izzy isn’t exactly the subtle, hands-off type. He wouldn’t even be surprised if she’d already told Alec. Magnus buries his head in his hands and groans. 

* * *

There are three of them -- four including the new one -- and each one is a little more embarrassing. 

The first video happens in early October. Alec is over at Magnus’s house, and they’re sitting at the kitchen table, hunched over a project for Latin class. Magnus is trying to conjugate a list of words into perfect indicative, while Alec searches for something in his textbook. When Magnus lets out a grown of frustration, Alec snorts, and shuffles quickly and quietly in his seat so that his knee is pressed against Magnus. Magnus freezes for a moment before letting his knee press back, and Alec doesn’t shift again. 

So of course Magnus posts soon after Alec leaves his house. Apparently he’s supposed to meet his family for dinner; his grandparents are in town. Magnus waves as Alec backs out of his driveway. He’s trying not to grin like a doofus, but he’s not sure that it’s working. When Alec’s car disappears around the block, Magnus runs to his bathroom. 

“Guys,” he says, out of breath, into the mirror and his phone. “Guys, the guy I like just came over to work on school stuff and he sat so close to me our knees touched _on purpose_ and I know that sounds stupid but holy shit, he’s so wonderful. He said I was the best project partner he’s ever had. Also, he smelled really good -- like lemongrass and pine and -- I just!” He runs a hand down his face and his video runs out of time. Alight with nervous energy, he posts it, hashtag free.

* * *

Magnus makes the second video on Halloween. 

This video is recorded in Magnus’s car; he’s sitting in his driveway, mind racing even as he tries to somewhat coherently narrate what has just happened, the night he’s just had. He plays it back even as he speaks about it, the whole night fresh in his mind...

He drives to Andrew’s house, windows down and letting the crisp fall air in. His hat nearly flies off his head and he holds it on as he turns down Andrew’s road, parks down the street. His makeshift pirate costume is immaculate, he has to admit; as he walks to Andrew’s he adjusts his clothes -- tight black pants and tall boots, a ruffled white shirt, and a red sash tied around his waist. He carries a plastic cutlass, and a tricorn hat sits on his carefully tousled hair. 

Andrew’s house is loud, party in full swing by the time he gets there. He lets himself in, says hi to Andrew, and grabs a drink -- a soda since he’s driving himself. He’s just settled into a corner with Cat and Dot when a tall Spider-Man appears, skin tight suit leaving little to the imagination. The costumed man gives a friendly wave to Cat and Dot but turns to Magnus. Magnus tries not to stare at the obvious planes of his chest, or the muscles of his thighs, or the way his biceps stretch the lycra of his suit, but hell, it’s hard.

“Nice hat,” Spider-Man says, voice muffled behind his mask. He points to the top of his head as if to clarify. It sounds as though he’s smiling.

Magnus raises an eyebrow, amused. He peers at the eyes of the costume, but can’t see through the dark, dense mesh. This costumed classmate will remain a mystery, apparently. “Thank you, o glorious web-slinger.” 

Spider-Man laughs. “Nice sword, too. Looks like you could kill a man.” 

“If only it weren’t plastic.” He thumps the sword in his hand. 

Spider-Man hums in response and shifts his weight, leaning a little too far and almost falling. He places a hand on the wall to balance himself. For the first time, Magnus notices that he’s holding a near-empty cup.

“How much have you had to drink tonight, Spidey?”

“A couple cups of… whatever this is.” His head tilts down and he sloshes the liquid in the cup around. “Punch, I guess?”

“You should be careful; Andrew uses an obscene amount of vodka in his punch.” 

Spider-Man makes an odd noise, then. Magnus stares at him. “I thought it tasted funny.”

“You… you didn’t know it had alcohol in it?”

“I don’t really drink.” And with that, he sets his cup on a bookshelf nearby. He wrings his gloved hands. “I guess it figures though -- I needed a bit of courage to come talk to you.” 

Magnus scoffs. “Why?” 

He pauses, stills his movements. Magnus is about to just ask him who he is when Spider-Man says, quietly, “Because you’re stunning,” and quickly turns and walks away. Magnus watches him go, mouth parted in confusion. 

It isn’t until Magnus is hugging Cat and Dot, saying goodbye, and turning to leave, that he sees it; Alec, sitting on Andrew’s couch, eyes lit up in laughter, wearing a blue and red Spider-Man suit. 

* * *

The third video comes a week into November. 

Magnus is in class, his mind drifting as Mrs. Penhallow flips through a powerpoint about the Cold War. He’s nearly fallen asleep when his phone vibrates in his pocket. Frowning, he pulls it out, dims the screen, and hides it under his desk.

It’s a text from Alec. Who’s sitting just across the room. Magnus glances at him, but Alec’s staring intently at Mrs. Penhallow, though there’s a small smile threatening his concentrated expression. Magnus looks back to the text. 

_A: What happens to a frog’s car when it breaks down? It gets toad away!_

Magnus snorts, and covers it with a cough, but luckily Mrs. Penhallow ignores him and keeps plowing through her presentation. Magnus quickly writes back. 

_M: Why did the team of witches lose their baseball game? Their bats flew away._

He watches out of the corner of his eye as Alec subtly reads the text and grins broadly. His own phone vibrates a second later.

_A: Did you know a kangaroo can jump higher than the Empire State Building? It makes sense, since the Empire State Building can’t jump._

_M: Why did the can crusher quit his job? It was soda pressing._

_A: Why did Adele cross the road? To sing Hello from the other side._ _  
_ _  
_ _M: Humpty Dumpty loves autumn. Every year he has a great fall._

They trade jokes back and forth for the rest of class, each of them hiding their smirks in their palms and their phones on their laps. It makes the period go by quickly, and Mrs. Penhallow has just finished her powerpoint and the bell rings when Magnus’s phone vibrates one more time: 

_A: If I could rearrange the alphabet, I’d put U and I together._

Magnus pauses as his classmates quickly throw their books in their bags and rise from their desks. He reads the text again. And again, just to make sure he’d read it right. He looks up, eyes searching for Alec, only to see that he’s already left. 

He posts the new TikTok that afternoon. It ends with him just about yelling, “A stupid pick up line shouldn’t make my heart race like that!” into his mirror.

* * *

The fourth one, the final one, the one that apparently breaks the camel’s back, is inspired by a text. Not even a particularly riveting or important one. Magnus is laying in bed the Sunday after Thanksgiving, dreading going to school the next day. There’s something about going back to a regular schedule after holidays and breaks -- even a break as short as this one -- that fills him with anxiety. He rolls over, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep, when his phone lights up. 

_I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, Magnus! I’ll see you tomorrow._

It’s from Alec. 

And Magnus keeps reading it, over and over. He hasn’t spoken to Alec since the Tuesday before break when they had Latin together and Alec had dropped his pen. Magnus had grabbed it for him so he didn’t have to lean awkwardly over this desk to grab it, and Alec had said thank you and grinned and Magnus had nodded and tried to regulate his breathing. 

But apparently Alec thought of him just now, before they went back to school, and at 12:37 at night, when he probably thought Magnus was asleep. Magnus makes a sound he would be embarrassed about if anyone was around to hear it. He knows that Cat’s asleep by now -- she always goes to bed at ten on school nights -- so he gets up and stumbles through the dark room to his bathroom mirror.

* * *

Magnus is still in his car, waiting until the absolute last second he can before he’ll be late to run into the school, when someone knocks on the passenger side window. 

He startles and whips his head around to see Alec, leaning over to peer into Magnus’s sedan. Magnus’s eyes widen and he slowly unlocks the car. 

Alec opens the door and slides into the seat, dropping his bag in the footwell. “Hey,” he says quietly. Magnus fiddles with the keychains hanging off of his keys, still in the ignition, but he can feel Alec watching him.

“Hi,” he replies, smiling weakly. 

There’s quiet, and Magnus wants to bang his head into the steering wheel. He has never once felt this awkward around Alec before. But what is he supposed to say? He can’t deny making the videos, and he certainly can’t deny that they’re about Alec. For fuck’s sake, he had gone into detail about his thighs in his Spider-Man costume. 

“So,” Alec says. Magnus glances at him for a second, but Alec immediately meets his eyes, and Magnus can feel the heat rising up his neck. He turns away. “So, uh.” He pauses and Magnus can hear him curse, exhale loudly. “Sorry, I don’t have any vodka this time.”

That gets a snort from Magnus, even as he focuses his gaze on the dashboard. 

Alec’s voice is soft, hesitant, when he speaks. “Did you mean it?” 

Magnus finally turns, shifting in his seat. Alec’s staring at his hands now, wringing them in his lap. “You think I embarrassed myself online just for some meager views?”

The corner of Alec’s mouth quirks. “Not embarrassing.” Magnus snorts again, turning back to the dashboard, but Alec stops fiddling and reaches a warm hand out. It covers Magnus’s where he toys with the keychains hanging from the ignition, and Magnus pauses. “Really. Not embarrassing.”

Magnus swallows thickly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Alec’s smile grows. He nods, one eyebrow raised. “I’d like to hear more of your opinions on my Halloween costume, actually.” 

“Oh, fuck off.” Magnus’s voice is without heat, and Alec laughs. Magnus smiles back at him. “Yes. I meant it.” 

And Alec’s smile is radiant. His hazel eyes crinkle at the corners and now Magnus can’t stop looking at him, can’t _not_ look at him when he looks like actual, literal sunshine. “Good.” 

* * *

“Hey guys,” Magnus says, twisting into the bathroom and aiming the camera at the mirror. “Too many of you watched my last video, so _unfortunately_ \--” He breaks off as a cackle sounds from the doorway. “Shush, I’m making a video!” 

Alec sticks his head into the room, slides into frame, grin wide on his face. Magnus thinks he’ll never get sick of that smile. “So _unfortunately_ he has to deal with me now,” Alec says, wrapping his arm around Magnus’s waist and tugging him close. 

“Okay, maybe it’s not so unfortunate.” 

The sixty-seconds timer ends just as Magnus turns and pulls Alec into a kiss.

  
  



End file.
